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Monday, November 24, 2008

So this past Sunday I had my picture taken for an upcoming book by the supremely talented Seth Kushner to be called Graphic NYC: Creating Comics in Gotham. We decided to go with a mythological theme, what with The Olympians coming out and all. Mr. Kushner has photographed tons of people, everyone from the Beastie Boys to Jay Leno to Gary Coleman, and it was an honor to be included in this portfolio. I've reproduced the shot we decide on here, but please follow the link and check out his work.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

I think she gets a bum rap in a lot of the stories, especially in the myths of Heracles. Anyone who's studied the ancient world knows that Hera was an incredibly important goddess; Zeus himself seems to have been overshadowed in actual cult back in the day. Starting with Homer and later chroniclers she begins to be depicted as the jealous, shrewish wife; Homer was sexist.

Heracles, incidentally, translates to "The Glory of Hera", which will be the name of volume of The Olympians that deals with Hera. I'm going to explore Hera's relationship to the heroes, both antagonistic (Heracles) and protective(Jason), as well as a look into what it's like to be married to the most infamous philanderer in mythology. I think it should be very illuminating, and more than a little redemptive for a misunderstood goddess.

For Hera's appearance, I wanted her to be extremely beautiful (Zeus did choose her as his queen) and also a little arch and severe. To that end, I gave her the tightly-drawn back hair, evocative of a peacock's crest. The peacock is one of her symbols in ancient depictions, so I additionally wanted an echo of that.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

In 2006, I was living temporarily in Italy, when First Second editor Mark Siegel asked me to create something for their new blog, as a kind of way to introduce myself and my sensibilities to new readers, and while I was at it, maybe talk a little about my new homa in Roma.

The above comic is what I came up with. First Second initially passed on it, as it was determined to (A) be way the hell out there and (B) nothing to do with whatsoever with my then upcoming First Second comic Journey into Mohawk Country. Instead I sent in some sketches from sketchbooks that had luckily moved to Italy with me, and that was that. Sometime later, when a normal contributor to First Second's blog missed a deadline, my zombie comic was resurrected and made its undead appearance. I've always been rather fond of this strip, and I keep thinking how I should make a new installment for my new(ish) apartment in Brooklyn. Too bad I didn't think to run this on Halloween.

It's the official blog of George O'Connor!

I am an author, illustrator and cartoonist living in Brooklyn. Questions, queries, comments please email me at geooco@gmail.com. I desperately want you to know that all original artwork is copyrighted to George O'Connor unless otherwise noted. Desperately.